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Hello and Happy Friday, everyone! Before I really start in on the year 2052 -- and January alone is going to be an eventful month in the world of Slayers! -- I need to throw back just a little bit to introduce you all to some new heroes...this is the start of a trilogy of stories featuring characters created by , and you're only reading because he approves!

These stories will shine a spotlight on the heroic quartet called the Four Beauties of Murakami...you'll find out who these warrior women are and how they'll join forces in the name of justice and all that's right!

The story you'll read here, set not long after "The Battle of Porte Charlotte", will introduce you to the gorgeous, courageous Rin Morioka...it will be her destiny to become leader of the Four Beauties, but as this story starts she doesn't know that yet. You will find out what kind of ugliness will one day inspire her to bring her team together in the first place. Brace yourselves, though: Rin's seen a lot of ugly, and unfortunately from two devilish villians she only thought she knew...!

---
"Bushido"

--1--

For a very long time, Rin Morioka had never been certain about what she wanted in her life.

Like so many of us, the beautiful tiefling was unsure of the path she felt was right and true for her. Maybe it was because this mortal world itself was so uncertain and chaotic. Maybe she would have been more inspired to take a certain direction sooner if she hadn't lost her mother and father to random Demonic terror when she was only 13 years old. Her history with the rest of her known family was...troubled.

Her father was one of the High End District's most powerful and wealthiest residents; that was no strike against him, of course, but the rest of the Morioka family were collectively a bunch of stuffy, prejudiced assholes. They never approved of him marrying a tiefling, and they abhorred Rin because she was partly of Demon lineage, too. In his will, Rin's father bequeathed a massive trust she would gain access to when she turned 18. Her father's family contested that passionately. (It would be two years later the court decided once and for all those prejudiced assholes had no cause to deny Rin her inheritance.) But barely a teenager and still reeling from the loss of the parents she cherished, she couldn't have given a damn less about such things.

In the midst of this bullshit, Rin was adopted by a martial arts master, Jin.

Feeling so alone and helpless, it took time for Rin to feel comfortable with Jin at his Middle Ground dojo and home in the heart of Demon City 7...his pure devotion to her and his natural, soothing calm eased her pain. As a true and loving bond formed between them, Rin slowly took an interest in his martial life. Jin was a master of several disciplines as well as being a strong practicioner of the magic arts. Remembering her parents and how violently they were taken away from her, Rin wanted to learn to be a warrior, as well. Jin sagely cautioned her: "Be sure this is what you want, my girl. The way of the warrior requires complete commitment each and every day. It's a path that you must be prepared to devote yourself to fully and believe in with all of your heart. If you ever feel differently, if you ever have any doubt, then you will never truly embrace Bushido."

So young and innocent then, Rin asked, "What is Bushido?"

"That is the way of the warrior, Rin. Bushido is a philosophy originated and embraced by the Samurai and the Vanquishers, the noblest defenders of our country. If you aspire to be a warrior, my girl, you'll never find better inspiration than from them. Bushido is...an ideal embraced by warriors who would live in accordance to honor, truth, courage, and justice. There is so much more to say to properly describe it, but I think this boils the essence of Bushido down to its core:

"The way of the warrior is to bear what those they protect cannot.

"If you wish to pursue that way, Rin, be warned a lot of preparation must go into living such a life."

Rin thought she knew what that meant when she reassured Jin that she was sure...but she had no idea how much she had to give of herself until those first hard days of training! Jin slowly but in the strictest of measures conditioned her physically in exercise and punishing trials designed to toughen her up, inside and out. Days turned to months and so many nights, the girl was tempted to quit the whole thing because it hurt too damn much. But every time she felt that way, Rin remembered how much agony she felt, how deeply she still suffered ever since the loss of her mother and father. She didn't want anyone else to feel the kind of pain she knew losing their loved ones to evil, whether from this world or the next. That made all the things she endured as a student to Jin much, much easier.

Rin also really got into exploring ancient lore of the Tokyo Kingdom, tales of legendary warriors from far, far earlier times. One storied warrior who caught her interest was said to be the greatest Vanquisher of her time a thousand years ago. She was someone with very few peers in terms of her fighting prowess and her dedication to defending the innocent against evil.

Her name was Sayuri Mikoto...but the one thing that really interested Rin was that her legend was one that ended not long after her story began! She did make a strong impact in the most positive ways, but still in her early twenties, Sayuri had simply disappeared without a trace. It was a mystery that kept the warrior's legend popular, even after a milleina...Rin was a curious girl who really wanted to know what could have happened to Sayuri, too. However, Jin cautioned her not to get so fixated; he said, "Such things are in the past...focus on the present!"

When she reached puberty, Rin's ability to use magic awakened.

Rin had no idea that she could ever use magic until one day when she and her father were having dinner. Rin wanted her cup of tea, but didn't want to reach out physically to get it. (It had been another typically long day, and she was that tired at the time.) She frowned, stared at the cup, and without meaning to it began to float off the table! Rin was so shocked her focus was broken and the cup fell and spilled its tea. Jin had definitely taken notice of that too and said, "Try that again, please!"

Scared, the girl said, "T-try what again??"

"Daughter, come now. I certainly didn't do that, and you're the only other one here. I saw you were staring so hard at that cup, too!"

Rin frowned. "I-I didn't mean to!"

"That's all right. But I want you to mean it this time. When you focused so strongly on the cup...it was like you suddenly felt a new muscle in your mind, correct? And you wanted to flex."

Rin stammered, "It...i-it did feel like that, father."

Jin nodded. "That's how all magic starts for those gifted with such power, my girl. Very small. Your mother could use magic too, correct?"

"Yes, father."

"Then that is undoubtedly something your mother passed on to you. Go on. Try again."

Rin did try again...and she really focused...but this time, the cup fired straight upward like it was shot out of a cannon to smash into the ceiling above! The father and daughter quickly covered their heads as pieces of ceramic fell like rain! The both finally unshielded themselves and Rin groaned, "I'm sorry!"

Jin grinned and said, "It's all right. I have plenty of cups!"

Rin Morioka had to devote herself even more to controlling her mystic ability of Levitation! Fortunately, Jin proved to be a wise teacher as a mage, too. Rin was also a fast learner. Within a year, she could levitate multiple objects and could even lift objects as heavy as cars simply by force of will. She one day wanted to use her power on herself...and with great success, she lifted over two stories above the ground outside of Jin's dojo. Her dad was beside himself with worry, though, yelling at the girl to come back down!

Jin forbid her from trying something that dangerous again...of course, being young, that didn't stop her. But Rin wasn't a fool either, and she was careful. With more gradual experimentation, she couldn't just levitate, she could propel herself through the air brief distances...she wasn't flying like Angels, but it was pretty damn close! Trying stuff like that left her feeling whipped inside and out, though. Magic wasn't easy!

When Jin was satisfied that the girl had learned enough to control her magic power, Rin really began her martial arts training. She chose first to specialize in Kenjutsu, the art of the sword...her first and most favored weapon, just like the Samurai old and new, was the katana. From the beginning, Rin wanted to develop a diverse skillset. Her secondary focus was mastering the spear and the art known as sōjutsu. Time continued to pass and Rin wanted to learn even more...in fact, she went to college in her spare time and earned a general degree in Science. This was a girl who had broad horizons!

Inevitably, by the time she was 22 years old, Rin had also become restless. If only she had begun training sooner, maybe she would have reached her full mastery of all she wanted to learn sooner. But she had been at this for so long, she felt the desire to do more...she wanted other things than to strive to improve herself while she was still young. But Rin could never tell her beloved Jin her feelings...she was afraid of disappointing him. She did have a life outside of the dojo, but it had always been a quiet and humble one.

And then...something happened.

A few months later, Rin said to her father out of nowhere, "I...there's something I have to tell you, father. I met someone."

Jin, ever wise, said, "I know. I've noticed something change about you in the past few months. You've been so much happier." He smiled softly. "Who is he? O-or she!"

"His name is Xander Cane. I didn't say anything sooner because...I wasn't sure how you'd feel about him."

"Rin, you don't need my approval for such personal things! You are a grown woman. I just hope he's the kind of man who would make you happy, and he must be."

"He is, and I think you might like him, too. Xander is training to be a warrior. He's really dedicated his life to improving himself. And..." Really nervous, Rin said that the man asked her to marry him. To Jin's shock and delight, she said yes.

But there was one thing. Xander wasn't going to be in Demon City 7 for long before he would return to his home in Kyoto...and he wanted Rin to come with him. Rin wanted that, too. Jin immediately voiced his reservations: "But Rin, your training is nearly done! You have barely a few months before you've fully mastered all that you've learned -- !"

"I know, father...but I love him. I want to be with him more than anything, and..." Gods, she knew she was disappointing Jin, she knew it...!

But Jin smiled sadly and said it was all right. He reassured Rin his daughter's happiness meant everything to him. He said with love, "If this is what you want...if you love him enough to want to be with him...that's all right." He held his daughter's hands and told her, "Just promise me one day you'll finish your training when you have the chance. You really don't have that much further to go...unless you do doubt the path of the warrior is right for you...?"

"I..." Rin said with great sadness of her own, "Father...I only know for sure right now my path is with Xander. I...I'm sorry...!" And then Jin held her daughter tightly, and she fiercely embraced him in turn. He told her it was all right. And it truly was.

Rin moved to Kyoto with Xander, and then they married.

Jin and his daughter corresponded every day in spite of the distance between them. But as time went on, Jin noticed a slow but steady change...until he realized that Rin wasn't even remotely as happy as she was the day she and Xander were married. Jin always got the feeling that something was wrong, but if there was, Rin never made mention of it. All she would say that felt like a sour note was that Xander was taking more and more of his time away from her doing his work as a demon hunter.

Not long after that, Jin got shocking word that Rin was divorcing Xander; more than that, she filed a restraining order to ensure he would stay at least a mile away from her unless he wanted to be arrested. Jin dropped everything and went to Kyoto to find Rin, but she had effectively dropped off the map. For two years, he had no idea what happened to her.

--2--

One night, a rainstorm had gripped the area. Jin was home, but the warmth and comfort provided gave no solace at all. He still missed Rin tremendously and worried for her...it didn't help that this damned world seemed to be getting more unpredictable and dangerous than ever before. Gods, just a couple of weeks ago, this terrorist force attacked a shelter for homeless and runaways on the Low End Docks called Porte Charlotte. The story exploded everywhere across the news and outraged everyone who had a heart. Jin felt it incredibly unfortunate that it wasn't inhuman Demonkind from the Nethers but fellow mortals who could have done something that evil -- !

A knock at his door broke that chain of thought. The sensei well past his middle age moved to the door, wondering who the blazes would pay him a call so late and in the middle of this blasted storm! He reached the door, opened it...and his heart nearly stopped...

...because for the first time in too long, he saw Rin Morioka. Her bright red hair and clothes were so wet from the rain. Her striking eyes were much harder, firmer. Rin said softly, "Please forgive me, father."

Jin managed to say, "F...for what...?"

The hardness in her eyes shifted, became so much softer as she began to cry...she moaned, "For leaving you...for making you wait so long...and for being such a damned fool." Without hesitation, Jin took Rin into his arms...she held him tight with desperation.

It took some time for the young woman to compose herself...after a shower, her hair was still damp as she sat close to the fire in a big, comfortable chair, wrapped in a blanket and given tea to make her warm. Jin was endlessly patient, like always. Oh, Rin loved him more than anything. She should never have left him. Jin sat there with her in the living room, waiting for her to relax...waiting for anything else she had to say to come at its own pace. To be honest, really, he dreaded to know what she must have had to tell him. It had to be bad.

He was right...Rin had a horror story to tell.

Rin finally enlightened her father fully about the downward spiral her marriage with Xander had taken. At first, being with him was wonderful, more than she could ever have dreamed. But there was one thing: she only thought she knew Xander. As time passed, the seemingly noble and confident warrior was only a mask to hide his true persona from Rin and everyone. The first clues were in how much Xander was making as a demon hunter. Some looked down upon such a profession, especially demon slayers who asked nothing in return for their rightous service to the innocent. Rin didn't have a problem with it because, as far as she knew, he only hunted evil demons that had to be a threat to everyone out there.

But Xander was making too much money, enough to make her wonder what he did...he'd never heard of any kind of legitimate demon hunter making so much. But she did hear of the hunters who were nothing more or less than bounty killers, and that was a FAR less nobler thing. Such agents were contracted by clients with the express purpose of destroying demons, and often it didn't matter if they were evil or not! But when asked about it, Xander told her not to worry. He was making them both comfortable, wasn't he? (Rin had never told him about her personal fortune that she had access to since she was 18. She had never been comfortable with it in the first place, and Xander had reassured she would always be comfortable and happy considering the money he made. That used to be a comfort, but that had changed.)

Rin also began to realize that Xander was far less righteous than she thought in other ways. It was little things that added up and only built and built over time until the young woman couldn't take it anymore and confronted him. She accused him of being so full of shit when he told her many times he aspired to be a great warrior guided by the best of virtues, for the sake of improving himself!

Xander Cane finally said, "You're right. I do want to keep improving myself and I'll never, ever stop until no one can compare to me, not even that little girl everyone keeps talking about, Kyoko Asagi. They call her 'the Warrior Worth a Thousand'. Hah! One day I'll make my own legend so great everyone will forget about her! I'll show this world what it really means to be a warrior!"

Icily, she demanded, "And what does it mean to be a warrior?"

"Being a warrior takes strength, Rin. You can tell me everything you want about Bushido and how the likes of us need to be guided by everything from honor to morality to justice and all of those meaningless and intangible things!" Horrified, Rin could only stare as Xander elaborated: "But strength...strength is something real, Rin. Just look at history. The strongest have prospered and the weakest die! Don't tell me about virtue and codes and all of that bullshit. Strength makes all things possible, including any useless ethics and morals!

"Besides, when you get right down to it, humans are no different from every other animal. I don't have to tell you this world is chaotic as the jungle, do I? Like any other animal, the only law that matters is how strong you are, and the strongest of predators are far, far better than their prey.

"Strength is what makes people prosper and endure, Rin...that is how you truly gauge greatness!"

"I could barely stand to look at that bastard anymore...I told him I had to leave him," Rin bitterly said. "He didn't take that well and tried to stop me. He tried to hurt me."

Aghast, Jin asked, "Did he hurt you?!?"

Rin's eyes remained hard, but she smiled a little and answered, "He only tried. I caught him by surprise when I showed him how much you taught me, and I subdued him. I have to wonder if I could have beaten him if he was ready? I left him lying on the floor, walked out of his damn life and filed for divorce."

"Why didn't you come back then? I would have understood...!"

"Because the bastard wouldn't let me go...he kept chasing me around no matter where I went. That's why I filed that restraining order, but that meant so little. He swore that I'd regret leaving him." Her expression softened and she told her father, "And I couldn't just come back to you. I feared if I did...you might be threatened, too."

"Oh, Rin...!" She didn't have to be that worried...but if Rin really doubted she could have beaten him if he was fully prepared and battle ready, he must be formidable...!

Rin continued: "I changed my name and moved to another part of the Kingdom. I wanted to stay in hiding for a while." She frowned. "Then I met someone else. And I swear to the gods, I think I was born under a cursed star when it comes to men...!"

Jin frowned, too. He had a feeling her story was about to get a lot worse. He had excellent instincts.

She said with thick regret, "His name was Zaft." Rin and this man met by chance, and there was something about him, an uncommon intensity and sense of purpose. She wasn't attracted to him romantically...the recent burn she felt because of her disastrous relationship with Xander had chilled him to men in general. But there was something about Zaft Kurosawa, a professional scientist of high regard in his home prefecture. He was always looking for able bodied assistants for his experiments to meld conventional technology with magic. Such things had become more and more common in the mid-21st Century, such as Teleportation magic being harnessed into advanced (but highly expensive so not exactly commonplace!) devices that could send people from one location in space-time to another over brief distances. After demonstrating that she had enough scientific knowledge (she never showed him her college diploma with her real name), Zaft felt Rin might make an excellent assistant.

The next two years were mostly uneventful. Rin worked for Zaft at a remote and hidden lab complex his late parents owned out in the middle of nowhere. It was definitely ideal for being hidden from her ex, but that was a subject she never brought up. But again...there were little things that Rin observed over time that slowly made her question Zaft's intentions. His experiments were getting stranger and stranger...nothing that could cause harm to anyone else, but she had a feeling that they were only a part of something far, far bigger. That they were only some strange means to an end that Rin could only guess at and absolutely made her question. Rin was already aching with curiosity by the time Zaft trusted in her enough to give her every access code to his databases; he only demanded that she never, ever look at his confidential files.

Rin Morioka had been burned once before by Xander...she wasn't just curious, she started to worry that history was repeating itself with Zaft...her instincts yelled at her that he was keeping things hidden for the worst of reasons.

Fortunately, when Zaft was absent from the complex on business, Rin took a chance to access those confidential files...unfortunately, all of her fears were validated in ways she couldn't have imagined in a thousand years.

Rin's expression became haunted when she finally said, "The son of a bitch was performing experiments using Necromancy."

Jin's jaw almost dropped. Necromancy was the most forbidden and vile of the black magic arts! It was said only the most evil and insane of magic users would dare to embrace such hideous mysticism, which involved utilizing the dead in unspeakable ways, and no one with a heart could dispute that. Only the worst in history have used Necromancy...thankfully it was among the rarest disciplines of black magic in the modern day. It was still feared that deadly forces like the Dark Disciples and the Order of Black Monks of China used such twisted mysticism...!

"He was doing...so many horrible things." Rin shuddered in spite of the warmth of the blanket that kept her warm. "One...one of the worst things was what he did to his parents." Jin stared at her. "I'd heard his parents died in some kind of accident not long before I started working for him. But I found out the truth in one of his files.

"It...it's complicated, but he murdered his mother and father. But before he killed them, he drained them both of their mana, including the power they both held over elemental fire. Then he took their bodies...and he..." Rin shook her head slowly as her face twisted with horror. "He made their bodies into some kind of combat suit fueled by their magic power!"

"Dear gods...!"

"I had to get the hells out of there that very night. I dropped everything and left. He only knew me by my new name, I never told him who I really was or where I was from. He won't find me here as Rin Morioka, not unless he really wants to look for me, and I know he will...!"

Crestfallen, realizing how much danger she might have been in, he said softly, "Rin...!"

But Rin's expression shifted again to become truly firm...so serious...her eyes hardened again as she gazed at her father. She said with quiet resolve, "And I don't plan to run if he finds me. That's the last thing I'm going to do.

"In so many ways, I made the biggest mistake of my life leaving you and never finishing my training, father. But my eyes have also been opened to how much evil is out there. I saw for myself monsters like Xander and Zaft and how great of a threat they are to everyone. I wanted to be a warrior in memory of my parents, because I didn't want anyone else to feel the same pain I did."

She said thickly, "And I know now that's my destiny, because I can't just stand idly by while others are threatened by the likes of Xander and Zaft and those even worse than they are!

"I want to rededicate myself to the way of the warrior...I want to be prepared to bear what the innocent can't, now and forever.

"Please. Help me, father."

Solemnly, Jin drew close and knelt before his beloved daughter. He said, "Like I said long ago...it won't take much time at all before you're a true master." He raised an eyebrow and added, "But that depends if you've kept yourself fit and practiced every day since I last saw you!"

Rin Morioka smiled. She said, "Oh...I have, father." This was an unpredictable and dangerous world, after all.

--3--

Only a few nights before Rin had reunited with her father. In a hidden and remote lab. Zaft Kurosawa was MURDEROUSLY pissed off. He was going to have to pull up stakes and move EVERY damn thing here to a new location after he realized that bitch accessed his most confidential files and left him. She never copied anything, she wouldn't have been able to with all the failsafes in his computer systems, but he couldn't take the chance of staying! He had to establish a new base of operations where he could continue his experiments melding Necromancy and technology without any worry of being discovered.

However, every alarm in the complex sounded when the secure entryway was breached! Zaft was all alone here. He didn't even have any automated defense systems. He didn't need them, though. He was wearing his profane suit under his lab clothes. Zaft was confident he could destroy whoever this intruder was...

...and then he appeared, a hyperconfident and powerful warrior in armor carrying a big sword. He looked at angry as Zaft felt. The intruder took one look at the rogue scientist and yelled, "WHERE IS SHE?!?"

Zaft gazed back at him with deadly calm and said, "Polite people knock on the door first."

The warrior stalked toward Zaft and snarled, "I asked you a fucking question! Where is she?!"

"Perhaps you can clarify exactly who you're looking for...a name would help."

Xander Cane stopped before the scientist, his eyes glowering as he demanded, "I want Rin Morioka! I managed to finally track her here and I want that bitch!"

Zaft was eerily calm in spite of the threat of the armored swordsman...Xander had no idea what the combat suit the scientist was wearing under his lab coat was capable of. Zaft said mildly, "I don't know a Rin Morioka. However. I suspect the woman you are looking for might be a tiefling with red hair?"

"Yes! I want her NOW!"

"She must have betrayed you if you're that angry." He spread his hands and said, "Same here. I thought I could trust her, but she left me."

Xander's mood cooled only SLIGHTLY. He snarled, "Yeah...that sounds like her, all right."

"As much as I would like to assist you, I cannot. I have no idea where she could be now." Zaft's eyes really examined the warrior. "You're quite interesting! You seem to be driven by a very strong purpose. Tell me. What is it that drives you?"

Xander Cane said with a malicious tone, "I want to be the strongest warrior ever. One day I will be a legend so great, I'll change this damned world!"

The rogue scientist nodded. "I want the same thing, actually. I want to change this imperfect and flawed world, too. In my own unique way."

Zaft Kurosawa's smile was true evil as his cold voice invited: "Maybe we can talk...!"

　
The End

---

Yeah, when dark souls come together, that never bodes well for anybody! :///

But stay tuned for the second installment of this trilogy of stories introducing 's quartet of wonder women...next is a three-parter involving a detective story unlike any other, when Rin Morioka strives to discover the final fate of a long-lost legend! ^___^

Giving credit where it's due!

XNALara created by Dusan Pavlicek; XPS by Dusan and XNAaraL

Model:

Rin Morioka by her creator, !

Rain by !

Scenery by !

Description

Hello and Happy Friday, everyone! Before I really start in on the year 2052 -- and January alone is going to be an eventful month in the world of Slayers! -- I need to throw back just a little bit to introduce you all to some new heroes...this is the start of a trilogy of stories featuring characters created by , and you're only reading because he approves!

These stories will shine a spotlight on the heroic quartet called the Four Beauties of Murakami...you'll find out who these warrior women are and how they'll join forces in the name of justice and all that's right!

The story you'll read here, set not long after "The Battle of Porte Charlotte", will introduce you to the gorgeous, courageous Rin Morioka...it will be her destiny to become leader of the Four Beauties, but as this story starts she doesn't know that yet. You will find out what kind of ugliness will one day inspire her to bring her team together in the first place. Brace yourselves, though: Rin's seen a lot of ugly, and unfortunately from two devilish villians she only thought she knew...!

---
"Bushido"

--1--

For a very long time, Rin Morioka had never been certain about what she wanted in her life.

Like so many of us, the beautiful tiefling was unsure of the path she felt was right and true for her. Maybe it was because this mortal world itself was so uncertain and chaotic. Maybe she would have been more inspired to take a certain direction sooner if she hadn't lost her mother and father to random Demonic terror when she was only 13 years old. Her history with the rest of her known family was...troubled.

Her father was one of the High End District's most powerful and wealthiest residents; that was no strike against him, of course, but the rest of the Morioka family were collectively a bunch of stuffy, prejudiced assholes. They never approved of him marrying a tiefling, and they abhorred Rin because she was partly of Demon lineage, too. In his will, Rin's father bequeathed a massive trust she would gain access to when she turned 18. Her father's family contested that passionately. (It would be two years later the court decided once and for all those prejudiced assholes had no cause to deny Rin her inheritance.) But barely a teenager and still reeling from the loss of the parents she cherished, she couldn't have given a damn less about such things.

In the midst of this bullshit, Rin was adopted by a martial arts master, Jin.

Feeling so alone and helpless, it took time for Rin to feel comfortable with Jin at his Middle Ground dojo and home in the heart of Demon City 7...his pure devotion to her and his natural, soothing calm eased her pain. As a true and loving bond formed between them, Rin slowly took an interest in his martial life. Jin was a master of several disciplines as well as being a strong practicioner of the magic arts. Remembering her parents and how violently they were taken away from her, Rin wanted to learn to be a warrior, as well. Jin sagely cautioned her: "Be sure this is what you want, my girl. The way of the warrior requires complete commitment each and every day. It's a path that you must be prepared to devote yourself to fully and believe in with all of your heart. If you ever feel differently, if you ever have any doubt, then you will never truly embrace Bushido."

So young and innocent then, Rin asked, "What is Bushido?"

"That is the way of the warrior, Rin. Bushido is a philosophy originated and embraced by the Samurai and the Vanquishers, the noblest defenders of our country. If you aspire to be a warrior, my girl, you'll never find better inspiration than from them. Bushido is...an ideal embraced by warriors who would live in accordance to honor, truth, courage, and justice. There is so much more to say to properly describe it, but I think this boils the essence of Bushido down to its core:

"The way of the warrior is to bear what those they protect cannot.

"If you wish to pursue that way, Rin, be warned a lot of preparation must go into living such a life."

Rin thought she knew what that meant when she reassured Jin that she was sure...but she had no idea how much she had to give of herself until those first hard days of training! Jin slowly but in the strictest of measures conditioned her physically in exercise and punishing trials designed to toughen her up, inside and out. Days turned to months and so many nights, the girl was tempted to quit the whole thing because it hurt too damn much. But every time she felt that way, Rin remembered how much agony she felt, how deeply she still suffered ever since the loss of her mother and father. She didn't want anyone else to feel the kind of pain she knew losing their loved ones to evil, whether from this world or the next. That made all the things she endured as a student to Jin much, much easier.

Rin also really got into exploring ancient lore of the Tokyo Kingdom, tales of legendary warriors from far, far earlier times. One storied warrior who caught her interest was said to be the greatest Vanquisher of her time a thousand years ago. She was someone with very few peers in terms of her fighting prowess and her dedication to defending the innocent against evil.

Her name was Sayuri Mikoto...but the one thing that really interested Rin was that her legend was one that ended not long after her story began! She did make a strong impact in the most positive ways, but still in her early twenties, Sayuri had simply disappeared without a trace. It was a mystery that kept the warrior's legend popular, even after a milleina...Rin was a curious girl who really wanted to know what could have happened to Sayuri, too. However, Jin cautioned her not to get so fixated; he said, "Such things are in the past...focus on the present!"

When she reached puberty, Rin's ability to use magic awakened.

Rin had no idea that she could ever use magic until one day when she and her father were having dinner. Rin wanted her cup of tea, but didn't want to reach out physically to get it. (It had been another typically long day, and she was that tired at the time.) She frowned, stared at the cup, and without meaning to it began to float off the table! Rin was so shocked her focus was broken and the cup fell and spilled its tea. Jin had definitely taken notice of that too and said, "Try that again, please!"

Scared, the girl said, "T-try what again??"

"Daughter, come now. I certainly didn't do that, and you're the only other one here. I saw you were staring so hard at that cup, too!"

Rin frowned. "I-I didn't mean to!"

"That's all right. But I want you to mean it this time. When you focused so strongly on the cup...it was like you suddenly felt a new muscle in your mind, correct? And you wanted to flex."

Rin stammered, "It...i-it did feel like that, father."

Jin nodded. "That's how all magic starts for those gifted with such power, my girl. Very small. Your mother could use magic too, correct?"

"Yes, father."

"Then that is undoubtedly something your mother passed on to you. Go on. Try again."

Rin did try again...and she really focused...but this time, the cup fired straight upward like it was shot out of a cannon to smash into the ceiling above! The father and daughter quickly covered their heads as pieces of ceramic fell like rain! The both finally unshielded themselves and Rin groaned, "I'm sorry!"

Jin grinned and said, "It's all right. I have plenty of cups!"

Rin Morioka had to devote herself even more to controlling her mystic ability of Levitation! Fortunately, Jin proved to be a wise teacher as a mage, too. Rin was also a fast learner. Within a year, she could levitate multiple objects and could even lift objects as heavy as cars simply by force of will. She one day wanted to use her power on herself...and with great success, she lifted over two stories above the ground outside of Jin's dojo. Her dad was beside himself with worry, though, yelling at the girl to come back down!

Jin forbid her from trying something that dangerous again...of course, being young, that didn't stop her. But Rin wasn't a fool either, and she was careful. With more gradual experimentation, she couldn't just levitate, she could propel herself through the air brief distances...she wasn't flying like Angels, but it was pretty damn close! Trying stuff like that left her feeling whipped inside and out, though. Magic wasn't easy!

When Jin was satisfied that the girl had learned enough to control her magic power, Rin really began her martial arts training. She chose first to specialize in Kenjutsu, the art of the sword...her first and most favored weapon, just like the Samurai old and new, was the katana. From the beginning, Rin wanted to develop a diverse skillset. Her secondary focus was mastering the spear and the art known as sōjutsu. Time continued to pass and Rin wanted to learn even more...in fact, she went to college in her spare time and earned a general degree in Science. This was a girl who had broad horizons!

Inevitably, by the time she was 22 years old, Rin had also become restless. If only she had begun training sooner, maybe she would have reached her full mastery of all she wanted to learn sooner. But she had been at this for so long, she felt the desire to do more...she wanted other things than to strive to improve herself while she was still young. But Rin could never tell her beloved Jin her feelings...she was afraid of disappointing him. She did have a life outside of the dojo, but it had always been a quiet and humble one.

And then...something happened.

A few months later, Rin said to her father out of nowhere, "I...there's something I have to tell you, father. I met someone."

Jin, ever wise, said, "I know. I've noticed something change about you in the past few months. You've been so much happier." He smiled softly. "Who is he? O-or she!"

"His name is Xander Cane. I didn't say anything sooner because...I wasn't sure how you'd feel about him."

"Rin, you don't need my approval for such personal things! You are a grown woman. I just hope he's the kind of man who would make you happy, and he must be."

"He is, and I think you might like him, too. Xander is training to be a warrior. He's really dedicated his life to improving himself. And..." Really nervous, Rin said that the man asked her to marry him. To Jin's shock and delight, she said yes.

But there was one thing. Xander wasn't going to be in Demon City 7 for long before he would return to his home in Kyoto...and he wanted Rin to come with him. Rin wanted that, too. Jin immediately voiced his reservations: "But Rin, your training is nearly done! You have barely a few months before you've fully mastered all that you've learned -- !"

"I know, father...but I love him. I want to be with him more than anything, and..." Gods, she knew she was disappointing Jin, she knew it...!

But Jin smiled sadly and said it was all right. He reassured Rin his daughter's happiness meant everything to him. He said with love, "If this is what you want...if you love him enough to want to be with him...that's all right." He held his daughter's hands and told her, "Just promise me one day you'll finish your training when you have the chance. You really don't have that much further to go...unless you do doubt the path of the warrior is right for you...?"

"I..." Rin said with great sadness of her own, "Father...I only know for sure right now my path is with Xander. I...I'm sorry...!" And then Jin held her daughter tightly, and she fiercely embraced him in turn. He told her it was all right. And it truly was.

Rin moved to Kyoto with Xander, and then they married.

Jin and his daughter corresponded every day in spite of the distance between them. But as time went on, Jin noticed a slow but steady change...until he realized that Rin wasn't even remotely as happy as she was the day she and Xander were married. Jin always got the feeling that something was wrong, but if there was, Rin never made mention of it. All she would say that felt like a sour note was that Xander was taking more and more of his time away from her doing his work as a demon hunter.

Not long after that, Jin got shocking word that Rin was divorcing Xander; more than that, she filed a restraining order to ensure he would stay at least a mile away from her unless he wanted to be arrested. Jin dropped everything and went to Kyoto to find Rin, but she had effectively dropped off the map. For two years, he had no idea what happened to her.

--2--

One night, a rainstorm had gripped the area. Jin was home, but the warmth and comfort provided gave no solace at all. He still missed Rin tremendously and worried for her...it didn't help that this damned world seemed to be getting more unpredictable and dangerous than ever before. Gods, just a couple of weeks ago, this terrorist force attacked a shelter for homeless and runaways on the Low End Docks called Porte Charlotte. The story exploded everywhere across the news and outraged everyone who had a heart. Jin felt it incredibly unfortunate that it wasn't inhuman Demonkind from the Nethers but fellow mortals who could have done something that evil -- !

A knock at his door broke that chain of thought. The sensei well past his middle age moved to the door, wondering who the blazes would pay him a call so late and in the middle of this blasted storm! He reached the door, opened it...and his heart nearly stopped...

...because for the first time in too long, he saw Rin Morioka. Her bright red hair and clothes were so wet from the rain. Her striking eyes were much harder, firmer. Rin said softly, "Please forgive me, father."

Jin managed to say, "F...for what...?"

The hardness in her eyes shifted, became so much softer as she began to cry...she moaned, "For leaving you...for making you wait so long...and for being such a damned fool." Without hesitation, Jin took Rin into his arms...she held him tight with desperation.

It took some time for the young woman to compose herself...after a shower, her hair was still damp as she sat close to the fire in a big, comfortable chair, wrapped in a blanket and given tea to make her warm. Jin was endlessly patient, like always. Oh, Rin loved him more than anything. She should never have left him. Jin sat there with her in the living room, waiting for her to relax...waiting for anything else she had to say to come at its own pace. To be honest, really, he dreaded to know what she must have had to tell him. It had to be bad.

He was right...Rin had a horror story to tell.

Rin finally enlightened her father fully about the downward spiral her marriage with Xander had taken. At first, being with him was wonderful, more than she could ever have dreamed. But there was one thing: she only thought she knew Xander. As time passed, the seemingly noble and confident warrior was only a mask to hide his true persona from Rin and everyone. The first clues were in how much Xander was making as a demon hunter. Some looked down upon such a profession, especially demon slayers who asked nothing in return for their rightous service to the innocent. Rin didn't have a problem with it because, as far as she knew, he only hunted evil demons that had to be a threat to everyone out there.

But Xander was making too much money, enough to make her wonder what he did...he'd never heard of any kind of legitimate demon hunter making so much. But she did hear of the hunters who were nothing more or less than bounty killers, and that was a FAR less nobler thing. Such agents were contracted by clients with the express purpose of destroying demons, and often it didn't matter if they were evil or not! But when asked about it, Xander told her not to worry. He was making them both comfortable, wasn't he? (Rin had never told him about her personal fortune that she had access to since she was 18. She had never been comfortable with it in the first place, and Xander had reassured she would always be comfortable and happy considering the money he made. That used to be a comfort, but that had changed.)

Rin also began to realize that Xander was far less righteous than she thought in other ways. It was little things that added up and only built and built over time until the young woman couldn't take it anymore and confronted him. She accused him of being so full of shit when he told her many times he aspired to be a great warrior guided by the best of virtues, for the sake of improving himself!

Xander Cane finally said, "You're right. I do want to keep improving myself and I'll never, ever stop until no one can compare to me, not even that little girl everyone keeps talking about, Kyoko Asagi. They call her 'the Warrior Worth a Thousand'. Hah! One day I'll make my own legend so great everyone will forget about her! I'll show this world what it really means to be a warrior!"

Icily, she demanded, "And what does it mean to be a warrior?"

"Being a warrior takes strength, Rin. You can tell me everything you want about Bushido and how the likes of us need to be guided by everything from honor to morality to justice and all of those meaningless and intangible things!" Horrified, Rin could only stare as Xander elaborated: "But strength...strength is something real, Rin. Just look at history. The strongest have prospered and the weakest die! Don't tell me about virtue and codes and all of that bullshit. Strength makes all things possible, including any useless ethics and morals!

"Besides, when you get right down to it, humans are no different from every other animal. I don't have to tell you this world is chaotic as the jungle, do I? Like any other animal, the only law that matters is how strong you are, and the strongest of predators are far, far better than their prey.

"Strength is what makes people prosper and endure, Rin...that is how you truly gauge greatness!"

"I could barely stand to look at that bastard anymore...I told him I had to leave him," Rin bitterly said. "He didn't take that well and tried to stop me. He tried to hurt me."

Aghast, Jin asked, "Did he hurt you?!?"

Rin's eyes remained hard, but she smiled a little and answered, "He only tried. I caught him by surprise when I showed him how much you taught me, and I subdued him. I have to wonder if I could have beaten him if he was ready? I left him lying on the floor, walked out of his damn life and filed for divorce."

"Why didn't you come back then? I would have understood...!"

"Because the bastard wouldn't let me go...he kept chasing me around no matter where I went. That's why I filed that restraining order, but that meant so little. He swore that I'd regret leaving him." Her expression softened and she told her father, "And I couldn't just come back to you. I feared if I did...you might be threatened, too."

"Oh, Rin...!" She didn't have to be that worried...but if Rin really doubted she could have beaten him if he was fully prepared and battle ready, he must be formidable...!

Rin continued: "I changed my name and moved to another part of the Kingdom. I wanted to stay in hiding for a while." She frowned. "Then I met someone else. And I swear to the gods, I think I was born under a cursed star when it comes to men...!"

Jin frowned, too. He had a feeling her story was about to get a lot worse. He had excellent instincts.

She said with thick regret, "His name was Zaft." Rin and this man met by chance, and there was something about him, an uncommon intensity and sense of purpose. She wasn't attracted to him romantically...the recent burn she felt because of her disastrous relationship with Xander had chilled him to men in general. But there was something about Zaft Kurosawa, a professional scientist of high regard in his home prefecture. He was always looking for able bodied assistants for his experiments to meld conventional technology with magic. Such things had become more and more common in the mid-21st Century, such as Teleportation magic being harnessed into advanced (but highly expensive so not exactly commonplace!) devices that could send people from one location in space-time to another over brief distances. After demonstrating that she had enough scientific knowledge (she never showed him her college diploma with her real name), Zaft felt Rin might make an excellent assistant.

The next two years were mostly uneventful. Rin worked for Zaft at a remote and hidden lab complex his late parents owned out in the middle of nowhere. It was definitely ideal for being hidden from her ex, but that was a subject she never brought up. But again...there were little things that Rin observed over time that slowly made her question Zaft's intentions. His experiments were getting stranger and stranger...nothing that could cause harm to anyone else, but she had a feeling that they were only a part of something far, far bigger. That they were only some strange means to an end that Rin could only guess at and absolutely made her question. Rin was already aching with curiosity by the time Zaft trusted in her enough to give her every access code to his databases; he only demanded that she never, ever look at his confidential files.

Rin Morioka had been burned once before by Xander...she wasn't just curious, she started to worry that history was repeating itself with Zaft...her instincts yelled at her that he was keeping things hidden for the worst of reasons.

Fortunately, when Zaft was absent from the complex on business, Rin took a chance to access those confidential files...unfortunately, all of her fears were validated in ways she couldn't have imagined in a thousand years.

Rin's expression became haunted when she finally said, "The son of a bitch was performing experiments using Necromancy."

Jin's jaw almost dropped. Necromancy was the most forbidden and vile of the black magic arts! It was said only the most evil and insane of magic users would dare to embrace such hideous mysticism, which involved utilizing the dead in unspeakable ways, and no one with a heart could dispute that. Only the worst in history have used Necromancy...thankfully it was among the rarest disciplines of black magic in the modern day. It was still feared that deadly forces like the Dark Disciples and the Order of Black Monks of China used such twisted mysticism...!

"He was doing...so many horrible things." Rin shuddered in spite of the warmth of the blanket that kept her warm. "One...one of the worst things was what he did to his parents." Jin stared at her. "I'd heard his parents died in some kind of accident not long before I started working for him. But I found out the truth in one of his files.

"It...it's complicated, but he murdered his mother and father. But before he killed them, he drained them both of their mana, including the power they both held over elemental fire. Then he took their bodies...and he..." Rin shook her head slowly as her face twisted with horror. "He made their bodies into some kind of combat suit fueled by their magic power!"

"Dear gods...!"

"I had to get the hells out of there that very night. I dropped everything and left. He only knew me by my new name, I never told him who I really was or where I was from. He won't find me here as Rin Morioka, not unless he really wants to look for me, and I know he will...!"

Crestfallen, realizing how much danger she might have been in, he said softly, "Rin...!"

But Rin's expression shifted again to become truly firm...so serious...her eyes hardened again as she gazed at her father. She said with quiet resolve, "And I don't plan to run if he finds me. That's the last thing I'm going to do.

"In so many ways, I made the biggest mistake of my life leaving you and never finishing my training, father. But my eyes have also been opened to how much evil is out there. I saw for myself monsters like Xander and Zaft and how great of a threat they are to everyone. I wanted to be a warrior in memory of my parents, because I didn't want anyone else to feel the same pain I did."

She said thickly, "And I know now that's my destiny, because I can't just stand idly by while others are threatened by the likes of Xander and Zaft and those even worse than they are!

"I want to rededicate myself to the way of the warrior...I want to be prepared to bear what the innocent can't, now and forever.

"Please. Help me, father."

Solemnly, Jin drew close and knelt before his beloved daughter. He said, "Like I said long ago...it won't take much time at all before you're a true master." He raised an eyebrow and added, "But that depends if you've kept yourself fit and practiced every day since I last saw you!"

Rin Morioka smiled. She said, "Oh...I have, father." This was an unpredictable and dangerous world, after all.

--3--

Only a few nights before Rin had reunited with her father. In a hidden and remote lab. Zaft Kurosawa was MURDEROUSLY pissed off. He was going to have to pull up stakes and move EVERY damn thing here to a new location after he realized that bitch accessed his most confidential files and left him. She never copied anything, she wouldn't have been able to with all the failsafes in his computer systems, but he couldn't take the chance of staying! He had to establish a new base of operations where he could continue his experiments melding Necromancy and technology without any worry of being discovered.

However, every alarm in the complex sounded when the secure entryway was breached! Zaft was all alone here. He didn't even have any automated defense systems. He didn't need them, though. He was wearing his profane suit under his lab clothes. Zaft was confident he could destroy whoever this intruder was...

...and then he appeared, a hyperconfident and powerful warrior in armor carrying a big sword. He looked at angry as Zaft felt. The intruder took one look at the rogue scientist and yelled, "WHERE IS SHE?!?"

Zaft gazed back at him with deadly calm and said, "Polite people knock on the door first."

The warrior stalked toward Zaft and snarled, "I asked you a fucking question! Where is she?!"

"Perhaps you can clarify exactly who you're looking for...a name would help."

Xander Cane stopped before the scientist, his eyes glowering as he demanded, "I want Rin Morioka! I managed to finally track her here and I want that bitch!"

Zaft was eerily calm in spite of the threat of the armored swordsman...Xander had no idea what the combat suit the scientist was wearing under his lab coat was capable of. Zaft said mildly, "I don't know a Rin Morioka. However. I suspect the woman you are looking for might be a tiefling with red hair?"

"Yes! I want her NOW!"

"She must have betrayed you if you're that angry." He spread his hands and said, "Same here. I thought I could trust her, but she left me."

Xander's mood cooled only SLIGHTLY. He snarled, "Yeah...that sounds like her, all right."

"As much as I would like to assist you, I cannot. I have no idea where she could be now." Zaft's eyes really examined the warrior. "You're quite interesting! You seem to be driven by a very strong purpose. Tell me. What is it that drives you?"

Xander Cane said with a malicious tone, "I want to be the strongest warrior ever. One day I will be a legend so great, I'll change this damned world!"

The rogue scientist nodded. "I want the same thing, actually. I want to change this imperfect and flawed world, too. In my own unique way."

Zaft Kurosawa's smile was true evil as his cold voice invited: "Maybe we can talk...!"

　
The End

---

Yeah, when dark souls come together, that never bodes well for anybody! :///

But stay tuned for the second installment of this trilogy of stories introducing 's quartet of wonder women...next is a three-parter involving a detective story unlike any other, when Rin Morioka strives to discover the final fate of a long-lost legend! ^___^

Giving credit where it's due!

XNALara created by Dusan Pavlicek; XPS by Dusan and XNAaraL

Model:

Rin Morioka by her creator, !

Rain by !

Scenery by !